India's union coal ministry has set up an inter-ministerial panel for looking into the coal linkages of the power plants with an aggregate capacity of 16,000 MW and that in advanced stages of commissioning.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), which will operate under the chairmanship of Coal Secretary S K Srivastava, was set up following a recommendation of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The committee will have members from various ministries including Power, Steel, Railways and Law, according to officials.

CCEA had asked the ministry to set up a panel to look into the coal linkages of such power plants at a meeting held in the previous month. The panel is expected to meet soon to discuss the matter. It is believed that Coal India
(CIL) will enter into 143 fuel supply pacts with power generators till 2014-15 who have been guaranteed coal supply under the government's 12th Five Year Plan period from 2012 to 2017. Out of the 143 fuel supply pacts, 92 have to be signed within this month.

CIL accounts for about 80 per cent of the domestic coal production in India. According to the figures available, the gap between demand and supply for coal in the country was 161.5 million tonne (MT) during the previous fiscal year and it is estimated to increase to 200 MT in 2016-17.